Venezuelan seaman and privateer, admiral in the Venezuelan Navy. Born, New Orleans, December 15, 1780; son of René Beluche and Rosa (Rosalie) Laporte. Master of several merchant vessels out of New Orleans; using the alias Pierre Brugman, he was captain of the French privateer L'Intrepide when it was seized by United States officials at New Orleans in 1810, released, and subsequently wrecked off Cat Island. Commanded privateer Spy under United States letter of marque during War of 1812; cruised the Gulf of Mexico under commissions from the rebel government at Cartagena in La Popa. Narrowly avoided capture by United States forces which raided the Barataria Bay rendezvous in September, 1814, and was among those Baratarians who enlisted in the American forces defending New Orleans against the British invasion of 1814-1815; he commanded one of the 24-pounders in Battery No. 3 at Chalmette. Returned to privateering in association with Simon Bolivar and participated in the rebel naval victory at Lake Maracaibo in 1823. Married (1) Marie Magdeleine Victoire Milleret, whom he abandoned and was divorced from in 1822, and (2) Maria Beaudri Espicoti, his longtime mistress. In 1824 Beluche settled in Puerto Cabell and resumed the practice of merchant shipping. In 1836 he fought on the losing side in a revolt against the Venezuelan government and was exiled for nine years; returning to Puerto Cabello and the naval service, he helped put down the revolt of 1848-1850. Died, October 4, 1860, and in 1963 the Venezuelan government reinterred Beluche's remains beside the statue of José Gregorio Managas in Caracas. R.C.V. Sources: Isidro A. Beluche Mora, Abordajes, Biografia Esquematica de Renato Beluche (1960); Jane Lucas De Grummond, Renato Beluche: Smuggler, Privateer, and Patriot, 1780-1790 (1983); Records of the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Ft. Worth; St. Louis Cathedral Archives, New Orleans; Archivo National de Colombia, Bogata (Correspondia Military). [Shared by Zombie finder]